Power transmission members to which this invention relates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,415, assigned to the same assignee as the subject invention, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The coupling and uncoupling of clutch components within a vehicle automatic transmission clutch is accomplished by the use of clutch discs and a power transmission member embodied as as clutch hub of the type to which the instant invention is directed.
Such a clutch hub has a generally cup-shaped configuration with an annular end wall used to mount the hub on a mandrel, as well as a thin-walled annular sleeve portion wherein the clutch hub splines are formed. The end wall extends radially in an inward direction from one end of the sleeve portion which extends axially.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,415, issued Sept. 28, 1976, discloses a method and machine for splining a power transmission member by rolling, as well as the resultant splined member. An externally toothed pinion-type mandrel of the machine is rotatably mounted between a pair of elongated die racks. An unsplined member is supported by the mandrel so that sliding movement of the elongated dies from an initial end-to-end relationship to an overlapping relationship meshes teeth on the dies and the teeth on the mandrel with a thin-walled annular sleeve portion of the member therebetween. The meshing of the die and mandrel teeth deforms the sleeve portion of the member radially in a rolling manner, forming splines as the mandrel rotates. A concern arising during such a splining operation is the deficiency of the blank to become oblong due to non-uniform radial deformation thereof; moreover, end-to-end movement of the dies requires a large-sized machine.